The Subarashi Adventures of SG1

by Sakura23

Sequel to "An Exchange Student, an Arm, and a New Combo." One phone call later, the story continues in Colorado Springs. But now a new enemy threatens to interfere with OOO's hunt for the Medals. The battle between Greeed and Goa'uld has begun.

A New Job, Moving Out, and a Not So Subarashi Mission

The Wii-mote swung wildly as I prepared to race an innocent looking piece of paper named Tobi on the second floor of a dungeon known as Oni Island. The Nunchuk too moved abruptly to the left as it guided the main character of the game, Okami Amaterasu, around and around in a circle in a wide area to let her reach her top speed before her paws stepped on a large raised button on the ground, starting yet another race, this one through the Passage of Demonic Wheels. Next to me sat Kristy, with a big bowl of popcorn on her lap. She was not a very skilled gamer and thus had asked me to help her clear this dungeon. On the floor lay Ankh and Gotou, each attempting to outwit the other in an arm wrestling match. The boys were bored, one because he had the day off from work, and the other because he had just been ordered by Kougami to stay with us in our apartment for no other reason other than for "observation purposes." Ankh believed this was so that Gotou could take our cache of Medals when no-one was looking, despite the fact that the other had sworn up and down that this was something a guy named Akira Date would do, not him.

"You cheated!" Gotou suddenly yelled, and sat up as he found his arm twisted yet again to the floor by the Greeed, who was naturally stronger than him. "You don't lift up your opponent's arm when wrestling, nor do you use your other hand as support!"

"Play nice now, guys." I warned the two, and whooped when Amaterasu, after failing twice to win the race, finally made it past the gate and got some money for her troubles. "Yes! Kristy, did you see that? I did it! After failing two times, I finally did it!"

"Wow, that's pathetic." Ankh spoke up, and I frowned at him as he shifted his attention to the giant HDTV in the room to watch me continue my exploration of Oni Island. "You failed to win a race against a sheet of paper?"

"Hey, this is no ordinary sheet of paper, and he's ridiculously annoying." I answered with a scowl as Amaterasu now moved to the Chamber of Delay. "Oni Island is definitely not my favorite dungeon in this game. I hate Kamui too, but I'll get back to you on that later."

"Is there any popcorn left?" Gotou wanted to know, and snatched a handful out of Kristy's bowl when he saw that there was still half a bag left in it. "Thanks."

"Come on, come on, come on…YES!" I then whooped and jumped up in joy as Amaterasu trounced a couple of Headless Guardians to win the next "race" against Tobi. "That was fast!"

"You were using Beads, of course it was fast." Kristy answered, and grumbled something before pulling out from behind her a bag that sounded like it held a bunch of metal soda cans. "Um, what's this?"

"Oh, I totally forgot about that." Gotou replied, and reached into the bag to pull out a green and silver Candroid that said Tricera on it. He then reached in and pulled out another one, but this one was purple and silver and had Ptera written on its surface. "President Kougami asked me to deliver these to you. And these." Here he reached into his suitcase still sitting on the floor in front of the TV and took out a small plastic sandwich bag with two purple coins in them. "Unfortunately you're going to be short of a new Combo. Kougami-san has yet to find the Tyranno Core. It is likely that another Greeed, perhaps one we have yet to meet, has it."

At this point I paused the game by pressing the + button on the Wii remote to bring up the Fan Menu and rushed up before Ankh could wrestle the baggie out from Gotou's hand. "Guys, stop that! Gotou! Drop the Birth Buster. Now. I will not have you shooting people under this roof. Especially not over a bunch of coins."

My voice must have sounded a lot more forceful than I intended, because as soon as I finished speaking Ankh gave me the Kyoryuu Cores and Gotou, embarrassed, hastily put away the gun he had pulled out of his suitcase to shoot the Greeed if necessary. The new Cores I placed in the Medal Holder Ankh also passed me at this time. "Tricera and Ptera are now accounted for. Okay, I don't know about you two, but this totally screams Mighty Morphin to me."

"Huh?" Ankh had no idea what I was talking about, having never seen the Power Rangers, on TV or otherwise, since he was still an inanimate mass of coins in the year 1993.

"Never mind. Anyway, back to the game!" But before I could pick up the Wii remote once again, the phone rang. I growled in irritation upon hearing this, but at the same time I felt somewhat happy about not having to beat Tobi in yet another race for a while. "I'll get it. Moshi-moshi…I mean, hello?"

"This is Captain Baker speaking." A voice on the other side of the line said in a no-nonsense tone. "Dr. Daniel Jackson is seeking an highly qualified assistant, preferably one of his former students, for his latest research project. Due to the secretive nature of the project, and the fact that it is currently being funded by the United States Air Force, I have been tasked with the job of finding out if you may be interested in applying for the position on his behalf."

"Dr. Daniel Jackson?" I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Captain Baker say this and had to ask him to repeat the name to confirm it. "The Daniel Jackson who believes that pyramids were not built by the Ancient Egyptians themselves?"

"That would be the one, miss."

"Oh. Then could you excuse me a moment?" With that, I covered the phone so that the Air Force officer could not hear me clearly so I could let out the most girly shriek I had ever uttered in my entire life. "EEEK! OMG! Be still, my beating heart!"

"What?" A startled Kristy wanted to know, her mouth still full of popcorn.

"Shut up!" Ankh and Gotou both yelled simultaneously in Japanese immediately afterward as they found themselves distracted from yet another round of arm wrestling.

Ignoring the glares, or in the case of Kristy, a puzzled look, I once more put the phone back over my ear. "Dr. Jackson was my professor when I was an undergrad in college. I would be honored to work for him. I may not agree with every one of his wild theories, but I would be more than happy to be his assistant. Could you tell him that I accept the job?"

"I will let him know as soon as possible." The man replied. "But he will want to interview potential candidates before making his final decision."

"Would that be over the phone? Because unless he's in town, I'm afraid I won't be able to see him personally, sir."

"Of course. I shall let him know of your decision, so you should expect a call from him in the next 24-48 hours. Thank you."

"Thank you, sir, for informing me of this wonderful opportunity."

"You're welcome, ma'am." The phone then clicked off, and I was left rubbing my hands together in glee before turning to Kristy with a grin on my face. "Well, that was interesting! Things are looking up for us!"

General Hammond wiped the sweat off of his brow as he continued to look over some files Dr. Jackson, with the help of a few officers under his command, had compiled and placed on his desk an hour before. After interviewing his new assistant and getting satisfactory answers out of her, Dr. Jackson had asked him to enter her on the Air Force payroll as an "civilian consultant," then requested permission to pay for not one, but three plane tickets. At first he had wondered if she was moving her entire family to Colorado Springs, which would have been understandable given the fact that she would have to live in the vicinity if not in Stargate Command itself and may still be dependent on her parents for a bit of financial as well as moral support, until he saw the files of the people she was reportedly going to be with upon arrival to Colorado.

One of them was a recent college graduate by the name of Daniel Piers. But he and this Michelle person were not listed as married, though they apparently shared an apartment in a small town in central New Jersey. Living with them was a former police officer whose files could only be gotten—with much difficulty—from the Tokyo Police Department. His name was Shintaro Gotou, and, thanks to Dr. Jackson's translations of the photocopied documents Hammond learned that he was currently working for the Kougami Foundation, which was in turn sponsored by an obscure company named Foundation X. These three would all come together to work for Dr. Jackson, for reasons he could not understand. Dr. Jackson must have agreed to the arrangement and promised to keep this secret, because he did not clarify anything when asked, and had kept shaking his head and muttering about birds and popsicles when pressed to reveal more about the newcomers, according to one of the airmen stationed outside his office to prevent others from disturbing him.

General Hammond now flipped Michelle's file open again and what Dr. Jackson had written under "occupation."

"'Student pursuing master's degree in speech therapy (dropped out to accept SGC job)/Kamen Rider OOO (but he pronounced the "OOO" as "Ohs," as in Cheerios)'? What is this?" He then realized that Dr. Jackson had included newspaper clippings related to the matter and took some time to read them. "Wonderful. More nonsensical things to deal with. As if I didn't have a strange hunk of stone sitting practically in my backyard to worry about. And what's this about a bird man? And monsters that may potentially threaten the area? My god, am I fit to lead nothing better than a band of whack-jobs? Well, seeing as I'm already the head of one big dysfunctional family, I don't see why not."

Hammond then noticed a thick booklet hidden underneath Ankh/Daniel Piers' folder, which had been published by the Kougami Foundation Press. In it were pictures and information about everything he would need to know about the three newcomers, including that of OOO's and Kamen Rider Birth's predecessors, Eiji Hino and Akira Date respectively. There was even a note, handwritten by Dr. Jackson's former student, Michelle herself, telling him that she would not speak of the Stargate Program to these individuals in any way, as it was a secret government sponsored project that only individuals with high level clearance would have knowledge about. She would, however, be allowed to tell them how she was doing in Colorado Springs if they happened to talk about it, as long as it didn't involve talking about work in any way, shape, or form. This pleased Hammond immensely, as he often found himself threatening soldiers who were constantly dropping hints about their assignment to friends or family members, and wished that he didn't often have to have a cover story ready for every concerned member of the public who wished to contact him for more information.

"So this is where we're staying?" Gotou wanted to know as the van we were in pulled into the Cheyenne Mountain complex and were told to get out when the vehicle stopped. A couple of Air Force cadets then marched over to pick up our bags for us and lead our group into what Dr. Jackson had called "Stargate Command." I had no idea what a Stargate was at the moment, but I figured I would soon have the answers to all the questions still in my mind. Then, switching to English, he asked: "This is a military station, is it not? Why then, have we been called here?"

"Dr. Jackson works here." An airman walking behind us piped up. "But don't worry, you'll all soon feel right at home. Right boys?" Here he grinned at his companions, and they all laughed.

The soldiers first took us through a security checkpoint, where we had to stay in line for about ten minutes until General Hammond answered one of the soldier's calls in order to give Ankh permission to enter, since he set off alarms because he was partly made up of metal Medals and this thus made the full body scanner believe he was carrying a weapon of some sort. The airman tried to confiscate the Medal Holder at this time, but the Greeed threatened to choke the life out of him in retaliation if the soldier tried to take away the Core Medals currently organized by Combo in the case, as well as a good amount of Cell Medals that we might need to power up either my Taja-Spinner or Gotou's Birth Buster and belt. Hammond had to be called again, this time to give all of us permission to carry actual weapons into the base, including the henshin belts and Gotou's gun. Said gun had to be checked into the armory and kept there until needed, but the henshin belts were allowed to be taken to our rooms on Level 25. Due to Dr. Jackson being part of what was called an SG team, his room was also on this level, and as his assistant, I was allowed to have a room adjacent to his in case we both needed to meet in private at night. Gotou and Ankh were given a room with a bunk bed a few doors down.

"You will meet your professor and a few others in the briefing room on Level 27 in a few hours." A female soldier later told me as I was unpacking my things and stuffing clothes into the only large drawer provided next to a small color TV on a shaky but simple stand covered in glossy black paint. "I hope you followed the instructions he gave you and brought formalwear, because you will be expected to look your best tonight for the General."

"Can I wear these?" I asked, and took out an outfit I normally wore whenever I had to attend a formal meeting, like a job interview or a student conference. The female soldier nodded, then turned smartly on her heels so she could close the door so I could continue unpacking in private. After smoothing out the wrinkles in my black skirt, I reached once more into my suitcase for my socks and began whistling a happy tune to entertain myself as my suitcase began to empty.

*All talk in this section is in Japanese*

Meanwhile, a couple of doors down, Ankh grumbled as he patted the mattress on the top bunk bed. Below him, Gotou was sitting on the lower one and folding some shirts, completely ignoring him in the process.

"This is not comfortable." The Greeed announced, then jumped down and glared at the small window in the door, which was currently blocked by the heads of the guards outside the door and so the view of the hallway was obscured for the most part. "It's high, which I like, but the mattress is too soft for my liking. By the way, why are we being guarded? Do they intend to treat us like prisoners?"

"General Hammond said it was for our safety." Gotou said. "They just don't want anything to happen to us. By the way, you didn't pack anything formal, did you? We will be meeting the commander and some top military officials tonight, and since everyone will be in uniform it would be unbecoming of us to show ourselves in casual dress. I could lend you an outfit if you need it."

"I hate ties." Ankh grumbled, but accepted the offer because he had indeed neglected to pack formalwear. He then pulled out his iPhone 4 and began reading up on the latest local news, hoping that his fellow Greeed hadn't got wind of news that they had moved out of state and attempted to find out his whereabouts. "And I hate dealing with humans. If it weren't for OOO…"

"Just for the record, I know what it must feel like to be the only Greeed without a complete body, but it's no use constantly worrying about where your next haul of Cell Medals will come from." Gotou replied. "Michelle will do fine. Though you are right to warn her about the power of the Combos."

"I won't have her spamming Combos whenever she feels like it." Ankh said, and, after separating himself from his host, flew down to a large collection of various snack bags sitting on a nearby table so he could use one of the claws on his Greeed arm to punch a hole through a chip bag. He had eaten next to nothing on the plane and had noticed his human body was feeling a bit hungry. "Don't worry about that. But what does worry me is the fact that none of these soldiers are willing to talk about the situation here. We're not being told anything important."

"They said they would explain everything tonight. I think we just have to wait until the meeting."

Ankh reattached his arm to his body, then screwed up his face in disgust. "Tch! Even if we went to this meeting, I doubt anyone would be willing to just dump us with all the answers to all the questions we have."

"Well, this is a top secret military base. It's not surprising that we would probably need high level clearance to know everything."

"Screw clearance! I'm a Greeed, and—"

"—'better than everyone else', right?" Gotou finished.

"Something like that. You get the point, don't you?"

"Of course. By the way, could you help with the unpacking? We've still got two suitcases sitting on the floor, untouched, and one of them contains all the Candroids I could carry without breaking my shoulder or anything. I would rather not let them be unpacked by the soldiers. As to why I have these, there are no Ride Vendors here, so I had to buy as many as I could from the ones back in New Jersey. I can only hope Kougami manages to get a couple of the vending machines to Colorado, because if we should lose any of these for any reason at all, it might be to OOO, and our detriment."

"You certainly did a good amount of thinking ahead." Ankh observed as he continued to munch on sour cream and onion chips, and Gotou snorted as he finished folding up his pile of shirts.

"Of course. Because unlike you, I actually use my brain most, if not all the time."

"What did you say?" Ankh bristled when he heard Gotou say this, but the other man just shrugged in response.

"Nothing. Just start unpacking or we'll miss dinner. I heard the mess hall can get pretty busy if we go too late, and we will need to eat early since the meeting is only a couple of hours away."

Ankh grumbled again when he found himself ordered to do such a mundane task, but decided to comply anyway. He hated to admit it, but he did slack off a lot because he believed himself too special to do anything that humans normally did, be it for work or pleasure, and he wanted to set aside some Candroids to take over to Michelle, since her suitcase contained none of these "cute little critters," as she often called them, and she would want to use them at times. The Taka Candroid, for one, would be especially useful because it could be used to send messages between her and any other SGC personnel. Looking in the suitcase he had unzipped, he saw Gotou had brought 10 of each Candroid, more than enough for everyday use.

"I'll take two of each for Michelle." He said to himself after dusting his hands free of chip crumbs, and immediately reached out a hand to separate the cans and do just that.

The meeting was scheduled to take place in the briefing room at 6 PM that night, or, at 1800 hours, if you prefer military time. Before following my female guard down to said room on Level 27, I dressed in a white blouse and knee length black skirt and put on a pair of short but sturdy pair of high heels to look professional enough to stand unabashed in front of General Hammond and my former professor, Dr. Daniel Jackson. But the briefing room was empty, and my guard told me to stay in the room while she went to find out why there was no one there. When she had gone, I went to the only window in the room and looked down, to find Ankh eating an ice pop while lying on top of a giant stone ring set in the floor and surrounded by cables. A metal ramp led up to the ring and passed through it, though I wondered why it was set up that way, because there was nothing beyond the stone structure, save for the back wall of the large room it was housed in. General Hammond stood on that ramp, and though I couldn't see his face, he appeared quite agitated. Looking straight down, I could see that many armed airmen had trained their rifles on Ankh, but he didn't appear to be intimidated by the prospect of getting shot at all. Gotou stood next to General Hammond, and he appeared to be trying to calm the general down.

Horrified at the thought that Ankh might find himself riddled with bullets in the next minute or so, I rushed out of the room, defying orders in the process, and made my way with great haste into the room I had been overlooking. The soldiers were reluctant to let me pass, but my pleas to see Ankh must have attracted the attention of those inside the ring room, because the door to Sub Level 28 soon opened, allowing me to charge in, looking quite livid. At the same time, Ankh shifted his position until he was sitting up on his makeshift perch on the top of the large stone ring, ready to defy any orders that I might give him.

"Stand down." I heard General Hammond say, and as I neared the group standing on the ramp, every airman who had been training his rifle on the Greeed dropped their weapons to their sides. "I hate to ask for help, but this man is not obeying my orders to get down from the Stargate. Perhaps you could help, now that you're here."

"And I think I'll need an explanation before I ask him to come down from there." I said, and pressed Ankh for answers. The Greeed was not very happy to see me, however, so it fell to Gotou to explain the situation. "So he was looking for a suitable perch? What a strange perch he's found then, I guess. Ankh, dear, you might want to get down from there now. It's not safe."

"I hate being down on the ground." Ankh replied in Japanese, since I had addressed him in that language and it was one he found himself most comfortable speaking. "It's not proper for a Greeed like me to stay on the ground." Being a bird kaijin, it was understandable that he should loathe walking, and I remembered, albeit with a sigh and a shake of my head, that he had been on the verge of tears after seeing me use his Cores for the first time to beat a monster from the sky. He wanted to fly, but as his body was still incomplete, he had no wings and could not take to the sky. He could travel around as an arm, but not only did that feel unnatural to him, he had promised to keep Daniel Piers alive for the sake of Kristy, who had been his host's boyfriend when he was still just Daniel Piers. If separated for more than 10 minutes from his host, the body would die. Daniel was already nearly dead to begin with when Ankh had possessed him for the first time, and he had yet to awaken from his coma. "And besides, the Gate Room was unguarded." He then looked at Gotou, who glared back at him before translating this for the benefit of everyone else who did not understand, or speak, Japanese.

"It was locked." A man standing beside me spoke up. Judging by his military uniform, and his name tag, I quickly learned this was Colonel Jack O'Neill. "And unless you could somehow slip through the crack underneath the door, there's no way in hell you could have gotten in."

"But that's precisely how I got in." Ankh replied in English, and smirked at O'Neill, who looked befuddled in turn. He then grimaced, as if in pain. "But it wasn't easy. You try transforming every part of your body into Cell Medals and slipping in one Medal at a time through the door."

"Um, would you care to repeat that in plain English, because I have no idea what you just said." O'Neill answered. Just then, I saw Dr. Jackson himself come up, a pen and a notepad in hand.

"That's fascinating." He said. "Simply fascinating. To be able to physically alter your body…and your name, what was it again, Ankh? That's the Egyptian symbol of life! Are you by chance…but no." Here his face fell and he frowned. "It couldn't be."

"Yes, his name is Ankh." I said. "But he's not from Egypt or anything. It's just mere coincidence."

"Well, it is a fascinating coincidence." Dr. Jackson replied. He then saw me marveling at the sheer size of the structure Ankh was making himself at home on and proceeded to give me a quick history lesson on the stone's origins. "This is what we call the Stargate. It was found on a dig in Giza in 1928 and since then I have been able to decipher the symbols you see on the inner ring. Professor Langford at the time believed it to be a weapon, and since then we have learned that these symbols pertain to a constellation and that these are actually parts of addresses that you can use to dial to another planet. So far we have gone from here to Abydos—"

"W-w-w-wait, you guys actually got to another planet using this thing?" I asked, and my professor nodded.

"Call it crazy if you must, but this is a historical breakthrough. Not that we'll be broadcasting this to the rest of the world or anything, but this is a significant discovery."

"Professor, a giant stone structure with the capability of transporting you to another planet is definitely something worth reporting about."

"As I was saying, we have been able to get to Abydos, where we found other symbol combinations, or Gate addresses, to enter into the Stargate computer. We also met with the locals of Abydos—and it was here I found my wife, Sha're—"

"You did what?"

"Yes, I married an extra-terrestrial, if you'd like to put it that way." Dr. Jackson scowled when he saw my jaw drop in surprise. Behind me, O'Neill just smirked, and the woman behind him, a Captain Samantha Carter, judging by her nametag, gave me an amused smile. "The marriage technically wouldn't be classified as legal, since it took place on Abydos, but she is my wife, and if anybody dares disagree I think we may have a problem. Anyway, moving on. Just a bit of statistics here. The Stargate weighs about 640,000 pounds, is 15 feet in diameter and was lowered here to its present location via cables, just in case you were wondering. There are 39 symbols on the Gate and only one, the one that Ankh is currently covering—" Hearing this both Gotou and I looked up at where Dr. Jackson was pointing, prompting Ankh, who, despite being intent on finishing the ice candy (Popsicle) he had gotten from the mess hall during dinner, soon noticed that everyone was looking at him and turned himself around so that he was facing the back wall, which allowed everyone to see the chevron he was covering up. "See the v-shaped thing up there? That's a chevron. Covering that chevron is the point of origin for Earth. This represents us. Every gate address is dialed with a point of origin in mind. So that's why we're always going to be using that as the last symbol. From now on, just remember that the seventh chevron will always fall on this thing. Useful if you want to figure out whether or not the Gate computer is dialing out, or if someone else in dialing in, because a different point of origin, or seventh symbol will be in the gate address."

"You mean that arrow shaped thing pointing at a little circle above it?" Gotou asked, and Dr. Jackson nodded. "Yes. That's us. I—" But he was suddenly interrupted when sirens began to go off. The chevrons on the Stargate started lighting up one by one, and General Hammond immediately shouted for everyone to go into position.

"Who's dialing us?" he yelled up at a man sitting above us in a small control room overlooking the Gate room, and the man yelled back at it was from Abydos. "All right everyone, back up!" He then waved to me and Gotou still gawking at the activating Stargate and told us to move away. It was a good thing we did, because as soon as the top chevron that Ankh was sitting on lit up an unstable looking sideways gush of what looked like water exploded out of the Gate and retracted as quickly as it had formed to form some sort of rippling watery screen which blocked out my view of the back wall.

"Hey!" Ankh was not happy when he felt the Stargate beneath him form what Carter called a wormhole and turned around to berate Hammond for letting the thing activate without warning. "What the heck do you think you idiots are doing? What's going on?"

As if on cue, someone in ragged clothing suddenly came out of the Stargate, then ran to Dr. Jackson, who embraced him and asked him what was the matter.

"Sha're." the boy kept repeating, as Daniel Jackson pressed him for answers. "Goa'uld… Sha're… Taken!"

"They took my wife?" Dr. Jackson was not happy when he heard the news. "General Hammond, please let me go and search for my wife. If Ra has taken her…"

"The sun god has taken her?" I asked, puzzled as to why this was a bad thing, but according to Dr. Jackson, there was no time to explain, nor time to lose. Suddenly a metal shutter appeared over the Gate, startling Gotou, as well as Ankh, who jumped down immediately to avoid getting his legs—which were dangling over the side of the Stargate—cut by the metal blades that had popped out of seemingly nowhere to block the wormhole. "Oh my, what was that?"

"What the hell!" Ankh was not pleased to have been seemingly close to losing some human body parts, and this prompted him to unleash a string of curses in Japanese, none of which Gotou thankfully translated to avoid offending anyone.

"Sorry son, but that's our insurance against any more surprises. It's pure titanium and hopefully impenetrable. We call it an iris. By the way, Walter, that was a good decision on your part. We want to shield ourselves against any more intruders."

"Thank you, General." The man in the control room answered, allowing Hammond to direct his attention to Dr. Jackson.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. We have much catching up to do, and your assistant no doubt has many more questions to ask as soon as we've settled this boy here in until we deem it safe to let him return to Abydos. There will be no Gate travel unless I say so. If Ra is indeed causing trouble, I don't wish to get us all involved, and possibly killed in another skirmish with the Goa'uld."

"Goa'uld?" Gotou inquired. But before anyone could explain, the boy reached into his pocket and showed Dr. Jackson something written on what appeared to be real papyrus. This he showed to General Hammond.

"So you're telling me this is where they took your wife?"

"And I'm very determined to get there." My professor looked General Hammond in the eye when he said this. "I don't care if I'll be defying orders. My wife is all I have in terms of family, and there's nothing you can do to prevent me from trying to see to her well-being."

"Professor—" I began, but Dr. Jackson cut me off with a stern look, and I fell silent. General Hammond seemed to ponder the situation, but after a minute or two he nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly. He even gave a little sigh.

"All right, I suppose I have no choice but to authorize a trip through the Gate. You may go, but I want O'Neill to lead the rescue team. That, and I want you to go with SG-2, which will act as back-up."

"Thank you sir."

"Thank me later, son, when your wife is safe."

Dr. Jackson nodded, then gave me a small smile. "So. You ready for adventure, Michelle?"

It took a bit of coaxing, but eventually General Hammond allowed me to go with Dr. Jackson, since I was his assistant and should be allowed to accompany him if he so wished. Ankh immediately volunteered to go as well, and was allowed to come along because someone happened to come by soon afterward to report that the mess hall staff were not very happy to find themselves short of a couple of ice cream bars they had wanted to eat during their break, and they had already been warned that Ankh was likely to come back for more, since I had sent advance warning that the guy loved popsicles and other similar cold treats. Rather than keep him in the SGC to raid the mess hall again, General Hammond had to agree to let Ankh be on the rescue team, and Gotou hastily added that he should go to keep an eye on the Greeed, lest he ditch us or something on the other planet. He too received permission to go, and was told to go gear up by O'Neill.

Twenty minutes later SG-1, comprised of Colonel O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and now Ankh, Gotou, and me, lined up in front of the gate with SG-2, which included Major Charles Kawalsky (a Russian guy I was not fond of from the start), Sgt. Warren (who I liked because he was nice and courteous when he needed to be), and a guy named Casey, whose rank I did not know. General Hammond stood, as he would often do when sending us off through the Gate, below the ramp to give out last minute instructions while we all stood in front of him in an orderly fashion. The boy that had come to warn Daniel of his wife's kidnapping was now back on Abydos, though he had been reluctant to return. But we could not keep him here in the SGC, and he had to tell the other Abydonians what Dr. Jackson had decided to do about the situation.

"I'd like to remind you that these transmitters we have given you are crucial to opening the iris that will go up to prevent unauthorized entry when you dial the Gate to come back here." The General now said. "SG-1, in the event that you fail to return, SG-2 will go home without you. And for the record, rescuing Doctor Jackson's wife is a secondary objective, the first being to scout the area for signs of Goa'uld and determining if they'll threaten us here. We don't need them coming to the SGC and wrecking havoc again."

"Yes sir." O'Neill answered, then saluted and nodded as the chevrons started lighting up behind us. Above us, the man who was at the computer dialing the Gate, a guy by the name of Walter Johnson, started belting out what he was doing so that we were informed of what was going on up there.

"Chevron 1, encoded!"

"Remember kids, as General Hammond said, if you lose your transmitter, you cannot get home. That means no 'Welcome Back Soldier' for you. So don't misplace the thing."

"Thanks Col. O'Neill." I said, then placed said transmitter into a pocket on my military-issued uniform, which had the SG-1 patch on the left shoulder. Beside me, Gotou was busy loading the Birth Buster with Cell Medals taken from Ankh's arm, much to the Greeed's irritation. Both wore SG-1 uniforms, though Ankh had ripped off part of the right sleeve of the uniform so he didn't have to worry about tearing it in the event he should need to transform his human arm to cough up the Medal Holder, which was stored in the aforementioned limb. The OOO Driver was in my backpack, along with the Birth Belt. The backpack, which was made out of sturdy cloth, soon grew heavier when the Birth Buster was tossed into it for safe-keeping. "Hey, last I checked I didn't sign up to be the human pack pony!"

"Chevron 7, locked!"

"That's right, don't load the lady! That's rude. We've got the FRED, for heaven's sake. Being a pack-pony is what this baby was born to do." Colonel O Neill now took the backpack and dumped it on top of some other bags and supplies sitting on top of what appeared to be a small tank that had now entered the room. "Better?"

"Yep. Thanks a lot, sir."

"Oh, don't thank me. Thank your back." O'Neill paused to smile at me before rolling his eyes as General Hammond reminded us that if we didn't come back in 24 hours, we wouldn't be able to come back anyway because they would lock out our iris transmitter codes. "Oh, we'll be back in half the time, I'm sure. This mission will be done soon enough."

"I wouldn't be too confident of our success if I were you." Gotou warned him, knowing that overconfidence tended to make people susceptible to overlook even the slightest danger during a mission. Being a former police officer, he had seen much suffering when proud officers, believing themselves invincible because of their ability to catch even the most elusive and dangerous criminals, wound up dead on the job at some point or another. "We mustn't let down our guard at all times."

"No, we mustn't." Capt. Carter agreed, and walked up to the Stargate, which had now activated. "So. We going?"

"Oh for crying out loud, stop being so negative. And we're going." Col. O'Neill answered. "Ladies first."

"I take it I'm going next." I said, and walked up the ramp so I could stare into the event horizon of the wormhole for the first time. "This is amazing."

"It is." Carter agreed, and smiled at me as I reached out to touch the wormhole. "You can actually see fluctuations on it. It's fascinating to me because I studied astrophysics when I was still at the Air Force Academy."

"They teach that at the Academy?"

"Actually, it was more of a self-designed major, if you'd like to think of it that way." Behind us, O'Neill coughed and said "Ladies…!" in an voice that hinted that he was irritated and getting a little impatient, prompting her to chuckle. "I'll tell you more later. For now, shall we?"

"Um, sure." I said, and exhaled deeply before stepping though the Stargate.

Seconds later I found myself standing on a mountain trail leading up to a similar looking Stargate on a planet covered in trees not unlike ones that could be found on Earth. A round device sat a few hundred feet away from the Stargate and was covered in the same symbols found on the inner ring of the Gate. This Daniel walked over to the moment he came through just ahead of the rest of the team and the FRED, which slowly wheeled its way out of the Gate at about the speed of 10 miles an hour.

"This is the same as the one found on Abydos." He observed. "This symbol represents—"

"No time for your history lessons." O'Neill interrupted. I immediately opened my mouth to ask him to let Dr. Jackson continue, but the Colonel held up a hand to silence me. "We need to get going. As long as Daniel here knows how to get us home—"

"Which I'm sure I do—"

"We're all good. Now, let's move out, kids!"

"Jack, we need—"

"To set up camp and some explosives, in case the locals try to ambush us or something. Not to listen to you babble about symbols and other mumbo jumbo. By the way, Kawalsky's team's been briefed, right?"

"Yeah—"

"Good job." Dr. Jackson then found himself being given a quick pat on the back before being told to help unload some supplies from the FRED.

"But—"

"That's an order. Now get your assistant and start making yourself useful. Come on, kids, let's not be unprepared here."

"Of course." Dr. Jackson then motioned to me, and together we began unzipping bags of claymores to aid the soldiers getting ready to plant some explosives around the Stargate in case enemy forces tried to take it from our control.

We left SG-2 the moment camp was set up and began making our way down another trail we found leading away from the rest of the group. As we walked Daniel entertained us with stories of Sha're and his wedding day and accepted Gotou's congratulations on his marriage to her. After we had been walking for a half hour or so, Ankh spotted movement in the trees and reverted his arm to its full monstrous form, prompting both O'Neill and Carter to look around in alarm while holding up their weapons. Gotou too whipped out his Birth Buster and made ready to shoot anything that might threaten us.

But it was not the Goa'uld (whatever they were) that appeared, but a group of what appeared to be human looking priests wielding staffs. Daniel tried to communicate with them, but when they appeared not to understand English he switched to the Goa'uld language and said something that sounded a lot like 'Chapped my eye'.

"Um, why would you need to tell them that you 'chapped your eye'?" I asked my professor, who looked a bit embarrassed when I said this.

"It's actually Chapaa'ai. That's what the Goa'ulds call the Stargate." Dr. Jackson explained. He then noticed that the priests were kneeling in reverence toward him and shook his head. "No, no, no! Please, get up." After they had been helped up, he then exchanged a few more words with them before reporting that they had decided to take us to a place called Chulak. "And that's where we're headed. Hopefully the inhabitants of Chulak can give us more information."

"Then let's go. I hear it's good at this time of the year." O'Neill tried to joke when he heard this, though no-one laughed at it. "Aw, come on, it's meant to be funny. Laugh! It's good for you."

"I thought we were on a serious mission here." Ankh answered, much to Jack's chagrin.

"Right, right. A serious mission. Well, let's get moving then. To Chulak." And with that, he proceeded to lead the way as we began tailing the priests as they continued to make their way down the mountain.

Once in Chulak, we were invited to a feast with some nobles who were about to chow down on what appeared to be grapes, strawberries, and a strange looking apple-like thing. It was a dessert fair of some sort, but before anyone could reach for the food, a unseen horn blew, prompting everyone to kowtow facing the door, which was slowly opening.

At first I had no idea what to do, but then Daniel, being a quick study, realized we needed to follow the crowd or risk offending the procession entering the room, and so made (or rather, tried to make) us all bow down too. Only Ankh did not, since he did not find it becoming of him to grovel like the rest of us lowly humans, and so was the only one who saw exactly who was coming in. This he reported to Dr. Jackson, who looked up to confirm Ankh's suspicions, only to blurt out his wife's name and find himself thrown back against the wall. Looking up, I saw a frightful sight. A Middle Eastern looking man had raised his right arm and his hand was in a glowing device of some sort. This he seemed to be using in order to subdue Daniel, who soon found himself knocked unconscious.

A guard now came up when O'Neill got up to defend his teammate from further danger, and soon every single one of us was knocked out for trying to help him once he too was knocked aside like a rag doll. As my vision faded, I was only vaguely aware of Ankh trying his hardest not to be overwhelmed by an orange ray of light that was shining on his head. His cries of pain were quickly cut short when a guard wearing a metal serpent mask marched up to him and hit him hard on the head with the edge of his large staff, knocking him unconscious as well.

It was still daylight when I awoke, judging by the thin shafts of light coming in through some out-of-reach windows in a semi-dark and dank dungeon of sorts. The first thing I noticed was that I was not alone. Beside me sat the rest of SG-1, looking rather dejected. Other prisoners milled around us in the cell, talking among themselves in a language I could not understand. Ankh was pacing the floor closest to the door, and his Greeed arm was still visible. The guards could be seen standing motionless through the barred gate that led out into a torch-lit hallway, and as they were armed and presumably dangerous, the Greeed had kept his arm out in case of trouble.

"What is this place?" I wanted to know, and Daniel answered that this was a holding cell of sorts for prisoners who obviously defied the Goa'uld. But he was concerned because there were prisoners ranging from tiny babies clinging tightly to their mothers to old men trying to shuffle around with the help of gnarled walking sticks as they lamented their fate. "Oh my god! Look at them! They look like they haven't been fed for weeks!"

"We get food. They give us food at times." A boy sitting next to Daniel piped up. "My name Skaara."

"And I'm Michelle." I answered. "This is Gotou, the guy now ranting about the need for ice candy over there is Ankh, and I assume you know everybody else here already. Nice to meet you, Skaara-chan."

"Chan?"

"Oh." At this point I realized I had added an unnecessary suffix to his name and grinned sheepishly before answering him. "I usually say that to people younger than me. I can speak Japanese, and this is what Japanese people do when they address people younger than them, usually children."

"You seem not older than me." Skaara pointed out, but after hearing that I was 22, he bowed his head slightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. In fact, you'd be surprised at how many people still think I'm in my teens." I said. At this time Ankh came over, and sat down beside us, looking like he was ready to strangle someone. "Uh oh, somebody needs to be cooled down here. Quick, fan him!"

"Be quiet, you." The Greeed replied when I pretended to panic, and turned away until he was facing the wall we were all leaning against. He obviously wanted to be left alone, but I couldn't just leave him to suffer by himself, since we were supposed to share the experience together, and so reached into my pocket to see if a Candroid he had given me prior to the mission was still there. It was, much to my relief, and when I popped the lid of the soda-can shaped gadget the can immediately transformed into a peacock and said "Kujaku!" in a high pitched voice before launching itself into the air and settling itself down on Ankh's knee so it could cool him down by spinning its thin, orange metal tail feathers. Thankfully the Kujaku Candroid seemed to lighten his mood, so I left him to sulk more calmly than before. He even started listening, and answering Skaara's questions about the thing, and O'Neill looked relieved when he saw that Skaara seemed to be calmer now as well, since he had been trying to get the Abydonian to calm down for some time and had not succeeded until I came to the rescue. The boy had been upset after being tossed into a dungeon alone and had been even more scared when SG-1 got thrown in, since he thought we had died and were being tossed into the cell to serve as an example to the other prisoners who might try to revolt and break out of the dungeon.

"What time is it?" Carter asked after a few minutes had passed, prompting Gotou to look down on his watch and frown. "Oh no, they haven't sealed the Gate yet, have they?"

"No, but we have just over 90 minutes until they do." Gotou answered. "We could probably try to shoot our way out of here, but that would just alert the guards."

"So we just sit here and wait to die?" Ankh spoke up at this time. "What kind of stupid solution is that?" He then snapped shut the Medal Holder he was showing to Skaara and snatched back the Taka Core Medal the boy was currently admiring. "Give me that! That's mine!"

"You said I can look it!" Skaara protested, and snatched the Core Medal back. As he continued to study it, his eyes glittered in admiration. "This…this is Ra's power. You have taken power of Goa'uld...I admire you, Ankh."

"No, you baka." Ankh answered haughtily when he heard this. "This is my power. It's my Core Medal you're holding, after all. This is what is inside of me and gives me the ability to form this arm."

"Oh. Why you not complete? Why you just a arm?"

"Well, it's a long story. And we could sit here all day listening to it and still not get to the end by the time the sun rises the next day."

"Please tell."

"Like I said, long story. Even Michelle here doesn't know all the details. And I'm not telling."

"Ankh!"

"No, no groveling. I hate it when you humans grovel. It's unsightly. Now stop…would you stop it with the puppy dog eyes! Is this really a good time and place for a story? No, I will tell you when I feel like it. When and if I feel like it. Play with the Candroid instead for now." Ankh then handed Kujaku to Skaara and immediately clammed up after this. He did not even bother to ask for the Taka Core back, though he had wanted it, but this was fine, because the Kujaku soon picked it up with its tiny claws and entertained Skaara by flying in a circle above his head, cooing the whole time.

After another couple of minutes the doors flung open, allowing guards with serpent masks to march in an orderly fashion into the chamber. The Middle East guy from before and a woman he called his queen then came into the room. Thanks to Daniel's attempt to translate the Goa'uld language, and Skaara's familiarity with said language, we soon realized the Goa'uld, as the guards and the rulers were apparently called, had come to choose some prisoners to participate in some strange ceremony of some kind. Judging from the horrified looks on others' faces, I soon came to the conclusion that being chosen was not an honor but a death sentence of sorts, and so faced the next ordeal with dread in my heart as we were called forth to "kneel before our masters".

Meanwhile, back on the base camp, Kawalsky groaned and slammed down the manual he was reading. SG-1 had yet to inform his team that they were okay and he was starting to get a little impatient waiting for their return.

"Hey Warren, you see them?" he yelled, and was given a 'negative' by his fellow soldier, who was standing outside with a pair of binoculars so that he could spot us coming, if we ever did come back, from a distance. "Damn! Where are they?"

"Well, if they don't come back soon, we'll have to go back without them before the guys back home lock us out." Sgt. Warren answered. "By the way, they should be fine. That Anko guy's with them."

"Yeah, he is. But I don't trust the dude. He's creepy. What did he call himself again, anyway? A Green?"

"Greeed. I heard it's spelled with three 'e's instead of the usual two." Said Warren. "That is, if I heard that Gotou guy correctly."

"Personally, I'm not pleased that we've been joined by a bunch of Chin—"

"They're Japanese. Save for that Michelle chick."

"Whatever. Anyway, I can't believe Dr. Jackson hired them."

"Actually, the boys kinda came along for the ride. But as long as Anko's with them, they should be okay. And that girl's got some superhuman powers, or so I heard."

"Superhuman? You kidding, man?"

"I wish. I'm not too clear on the details myself, but I heard she's some great hero. Like, she saves people and stuff. I've got folks in New Jersey who are constantly telling me she's saved their town more than once on a number of occasions."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I'd like to say I'm kidding, but I've got some newspaper articles and a couple of hastily snapped photos on my laptop back home to prove it. I'll show them to you once we get home if you'd like."

"Okay, I believe ya. No need to go that far just to prove your point. But you know, this waiting is getting old."

"So you want to go back to the Stargate?"

"Actually, I think I'll go back when hell freezes over. I promised the colonel I wouldn't ditch him and his team before we all separated, and I would be damned if I ever went back on my promise. So let's just continue to enjoy this fine day on Planet Kawalsky."

"Whatever you say, man, whatever you say." Warren replied, and the two fell silent to save their breath as evening began to fall, bringing with it cold air that was perfectly capable of chilling one to the bone.

Back in the dungeon cell, we yelled and protested as loudly as we could when one of the serpent guards pried Skaara off of Ankh (whom he had been clinging desperately to, as if the man could somehow prevent him from being chosen due to the fact that he was not human and might have the power to resist authority) and marched him out of the cell. Some other prisoners followed, while O'Neill and Skaara both yelled each other's names in desperation, as if doing so could somehow reunite them. I had never seen a man come close to breaking down before, but O'Neill definitely looked like he was going to cry when he saw the boy leave. He became even more desperate when he noticed that the guards were now forming a horizontal line in front of us to prevent anyone from leaving through the gates that were quickly closing behind them after the Middle Eastern dude had told them to kill us. He then spread out an arm to indicate everyone else now huddled against the opposite wall, hoping that this might somehow prevent them from dying in such a horrible place.

"Help me." He said, much to my surprise, since I was not expecting him to attempt to negotiate with our would-be executioners. "I can help these people. Help me!"

"Um, you know this guy?" I asked, and O'Neill nodded.

"I think so. He asked us where we were from when you were still unconscious. I think we may have perked his interest earlier."

"Okay, but you're crazy to think he's gonna help us now. Especially since he's got that not so innocent looking staff aimed at us." I said, then called out to the Greeed who was marching up to defy the guards about to open fire on us all. "Ankh, I'm going to need your Cores. If we're going to die, we might as well die fighting."

Hearing this, Ankh grimaced, then stopped beside me so he could hand me three of his Cores, along with the OOO Driver, which he must have gotten out the backpack before we came down from the mountain. "Take these, then. But don't fight like a wimp or I swear, I'll make you regret the day you agreed to be OOO."

"Uh, hello, I'm trying to ask for help, not a fight here. Let's not get trigger happy unless it's absolutely necessary." O'Neill said, and to my surprise the guard in front suddenly retracted his serpent mask, allowing us to see the face behind the helmet.

"Many have said that." He finally said, in English, which surprised me a lot because I was not prepared for this. "But you're the first I believe could do it!" As he said this, the guard fired on one of his companions before throwing his weapon at us, allowing O'Neill to arm himself. "Just aim and press the trigger on the shaft."

"Like this?" O'Neill then tried the staff weapon out on the guard about to advance on his leader and shot him down before the other could raise his own staff. Behind us, some prisoners screamed in fear as a firefight started right in front of them. Some shots barely missed them, causing them to shriek louder at times.

"Now!" I heard Ankh say, but I was already swiping the OOO Scanner over the belt, whose slots I had now loaded with three of the Greeed's personal Cores.

"Henshin!"

"Taka, Kujaku, Condor! Taaa-jaaa-doooorr!" the belt now rapped and sang, and the prisoners, believing that I was about to burn up or something, screamed as my entire body was engulfed in red fire. But no sooner did this red fire appear did it vanish, leaving me covered in the familiar armor the Tajador Combo bestowed upon me.

Beside me and Ankh, O'Neill suddenly dived for cover as a Serpent Guard with deadly aim fired on him. The staff weapon's projectile missed only because I fired upon it with a fireball of my own from the Taja-Spinner sitting on my left wrist. Giant wings and peacock feathers then appeared behind me to protect the people standing directly behind me, and I had to endure multiple impacts when the remaining Goa'uld decided that I was a bigger threat to them and stopped firing on their leader and O'Neill to focus on trying to hit me instead.

"Ow! Ow! Geez, didn't your mothers ever teach you not to hit a girl?" After folding my wings over myself to protect my body from being hit further, I then flew up toward the ceiling and unbuckled the OOO scanner once again so I could pass it over the OOO Driver a second time to initiate my special finishing attack.

"Scanning Charge!" the belt now said, and I immediately dropped altitude after doing a back-flip in the air, which caused my legs to split and form giant talons so that I looked like a giant bird of prey. This I slammed into the last remaining Serpent Guard, causing him to explode and his body to vaporize in the resulting explosion.

The strain of staying in Combo form was too much for me, for when I alighted back on the ground the OOO Driver canceled the transformation and I found myself collapsing onto Carter, who had rushed up to catch me just when I was about to fall down, exhausted. "Ooh, I ache all over. I also have a splitting headache and I feel like I just crashed into something at the speed of sound. This is so not subarashi."

"You better not have fried my Medals." Ankh said as he came over, and I could only grin sheepishly at him when he bent down to collect the coins in my right hand. Beside him, Gotou shook his head as he held a still smoking Birth Buster. During the firefight he had managed to whip it out and exhaust its arsenal of Cells in order to help finish off the Serpent Guards. He also wore his henshin belt, though he had not been able to transform with it because the firefight had been so intense, he had to focus on shooting the enemy the whole time.

"That's all you ever think about. Medals. Human lives aren't very important to you, aren't they?"

Ankh immediately opened his mouth to chastise the man for pointing out the obvious, but then there was a deafening explosion when the only remaining Serpent Guard, the one who had opened his mask to show us his face, used his weapon to cause part of the dungeon wall to collapse. Thanks to the hole he made in the building wall, freedom was finally at hand, and the prisoners began to make their way out. "Let's go."

"Right." After taking Carter's hand to steady myself, I then followed the crowd, but paused when O'Neill stopped. Soon all the prisoners were gone, and the only ones still in the cell were the colonel, the guard, and myself. "Hey, you coming?"

"I have nowhere to go." The man replied, but O'Neill gave him an encouraging nod and a grim looking smile.

"Well then, you can stay at my place. What's your name?"

"Teal'c." the man said, and, after giving both of us grateful looks, he proceeded to go out of the collapsed wall after me.

Teal'c told us, while we were racing down a steep hill to join up with the other prisoners and the rest of SG-1 currently herding everyone toward the base camp, that Skaara was gone and had been taken to become a slave of the Goa'uld.

"Once the Goa'uld select hosts for their children they will return home." He said.

"He will be infested?" I asked, and Teal'c nodded.

"Yes. He'll become like them."

At this point we reached the prisoners, who were now walking instead of running, as there was no sign of any danger, and made our way to the head of the group, which was currently being led by Dr. Jackson. Ankh and Gotou were walking side by side next to some female prisoners and arguing about Medals. I wanted to break them up, but decided against it, because I knew from experience that once they started arguing, they wouldn't stop until one of them had admitted that he had lost the argument. Carter was comforting Daniel, who looked glum. Because we had been unable to save Sha're, he was naturally depressed and needed to be cheered up somehow.

Teal'c now decided to tell us more about who he was and why he was First Prime of Apophis, which was the name of the guy who had ordered us all killed back in the dungeon. He then reminded us all to stay together, because should the Goa'uld find out their prisoners had escaped, they would no doubt try to hunt us down, and anyone not in the group would be easily killed. Together, we stood a chance of warning each other of possible danger.

"Give me Tajador again." I had to tell Ankh, despite feeling a bit woozy and probably unable to wear the armor for another extended period of time. "I have to make sure we won't be shot at from the sky."

"You're in no condition to fly." Gotou replied. "Go back to O'Neill and let him see to your safety."

"At least give me a Candroid." I told them, and Gotou reached into his pocket for a Taka Candroid he had hidden in his clothes in case we needed to send a message to base camp. Ankh took out another one that he had hidden in his arm, and when both had been activated I ordered one to find SG-2 to let us know we were making our way back to the Stargate and told the other to fly above us to scout for any signs of danger from above. This plan was ingenious, because just as Teal'c had finished showing off a larval Goa'uld he was currently incubating in a pouch in his body the Candroid above us squawked loudly, prompting everyone to start running. Its warning came not a moment too soon, because as soon as we quickened our pace a missile streaked over our heads and landed behind us, showering us in dust, dirt, and bits of vaporized rocks. "Ikuze! Everyone, go, go, go!"

"Come on!" Ankh yelled, and he took my hand to get me moving in the direction of the Gate. Gotou ran behind us, covering the top of his head with his hands every time a missile landed in the area to protect himself from flying debris. A flying spaceship suddenly appeared overhead and made ready to fire on us again, prompting the prisoners, now better termed refugees, to scream and run a bit faster. Some stumbled as the ground shook from the impacts of the missiles, and others fell, never to get up again. We lost a few members of our party this way, but a majority of the group managed to make our way to the Stargate, which soon came into sight as soon as we topped a hill leading down to it.

"Fire!" I heard O'Neill shout, and he and Teal'c began using their staff weapons to fire on the ship, but they didn't do much to it damage-wise. Only after an surface to air missile from the direction of camp crashed into it did it finally careen off course and crash into the mountainside, prompting a few prisoners to cheer. We then looked toward the direction of camp, and were greatly pleased to see Warren and Kawalsky waving at us. In front of them, Casey was giving us the thumbs up sign. "C'mon folks, up that hill! Get to work people, help these guys up!"

By the time we got to the Gate and began helping people up the steps to the activated portal leading back to Earth, Ankh suddenly noticed some Jaffa guards coming up over the hill after us and raised the alarm, prompting O'Neill to send SG-2 and out to intercept them while we three—that is, Gotou, Ankh, and I—continued to give the refugees a hand up the stone steps leading up to the Gate. They would find their way into the SGC, where General Hammond would no doubt find them a temporary place to stay on the base until it was safe to send them to a safer planet. Carter had already gone through to let him know of the situation, and soon Gotou went with one especially feeble looking old man to make sure he could get down the ramp safely before coming back here and continuing the rescue effort.

Despite being under fire, I felt strangely calm and did not even flinch when some shots came ridiculously close to the Stargate. One small fireball even bounced off the hard stone, and some even went through the wormhole, much to my dismay. I could only hope that the base was still standing on the other side, and hoped the technicians had had enough sense to close the blast window to prevent the control room from being blown to smithereens.

At last the final refugee went through, and the rest of the team joined us as soon as the final batches of claymores had been detonated, taking a couple more Jaffa down for the count. Teal'c was the last to come up the steps, but soon we were all assembled and ready to return home. After giving us a nod of encouragement, O'Neill went through, then the rest of us followed. The soldiers in the Gate room must have wanted to fire on us because they were not expecting another batch of people to come through the Stargate, but it was a good thing Daniel and Carter had stopped them from doing so, because they would have killed Teal'c on sight the moment he appeared after Ankh and I had gone through together, holding an injured Casey in our arms. The iris quickly went up, and I winced as thuds could be heard from behind the blocked Gate for a short time afterward. These, I was later told, were likely guards who had come into the Gate after us, but because the iris was mere micrometers from the wormhole, they could not reform after going through and had vaporized upon hitting the iris.

The iris opened as soon as no more thuds could be heard, and then we, including the refugees, all either sat down or stood as we tried to catch our breaths. Casey was soon treated on site by medics and taken away to the infirmary, and I had to push a concerned medic aside when he thought I was wounded. In reality, the blood on my uniform was mostly Casey's, and I was just a little tired and so merely asked for a bit of water to slake my thirst. General Hammond then came up, announced the time of the debriefing, then recommended that we all freshen up before then so we didn't look like refugees ourselves in the briefing room.

"Right sir." I said, and watched as he eyed Teal'c with some suspicion as the refugees were escorted to temporary quarters on the base until the Stargate could be used to send them back to their respective homes. "Man, this has been one interesting day. Hey, where you going Ankh?"

"Where do you think I'm going?" he retorted, and shoved aside a medic trying to do a cursory check-up on him. "Go away. I need to go get my ice candy."

"Hold on a minute! Is this really the time to think about food?" O'Neill cried out, but Ankh ignored him and left the room. He then sighed and looked at my former teacher, who still seemed somewhat depressed.

"She's out there somewhere, Jack." Dr. Jackson said after a moment or two of silence had passed.

"Yeah. So's Skaara."

"So what do we do?"

"We find 'em. But we'll worry about that later. C'mon kids, let's go get ourselves cleaned up first." He then motioned for us to follow him, and together we walked out of the Gate room with him. All of us were exhausted, but we were also all happy to be home at last.